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[TECHNOLOGY] · Germany · 94 sources

Deutsche Bahn GSM‑R fault halts Germany’s rail network

On the night of 23 June 2026 a nationwide failure of the GSM‑R digital train‑radio system forced Deutsche Bahn to stop all services for about 90 minutes. The problem was traced to a planned component exchange that disrupted the communication link between drivers and control centres, leaving more than a hundred thousand passengers stranded at stations across the country. Service resumed after the emergency system was activated and the fault was cleared around 00:30 CET, but delays persisted into the morning.

The incident prompted criticism from politicians and passenger groups. NRW transport minister Oliver Krischer said, “It is a new low point for an already weak operating quality,” and demanded a transparent investigation. The Union’s transport spokesperson Stephan Stracke urged DB chief Evelyn Palla to find “rapid, resilient solutions.” Trade‑association Pro Bahn and the German tourism minister also called for stronger technical resilience and better emergency mechanisms.

The outage highlighted the vulnerability of the single‑point‑of‑failure GSM‑R system, spurring calls to accelerate the transition to the newer FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) and to improve redundancy in critical rail infrastructure.

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